Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Toyota To Support Tokyo 2020 With Full Line-Up Of Electric Cars

By
Chandan Gupta
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Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota), worldwide partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, today announced that it will provide a full line-up of electrified vehicles, including unique versions of certain vehicles as well as vehicles developed primarily to support the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

With its electrified line-up, Toyota, together with the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, aims to achieve the lowest emissions target level of any official fleet used at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and thereby also helping to reduce the environmental burden of the Games.

Toyota will provide a total of around 3,700 mobility and/or vehicles for Tokyo 2020. The majority, or nearly 90 percent, of the official vehicle fleet will be electrified.

Statkraft Buys German EV Charging Provider E-Wald

By
Chandan Gupta
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0
File Photo Of Car Sharing Infrastruture. Image by andreas160578 from Pixabay
File Photo Of Car Sharing Infrastruture. Image by andreas160578 from Pixabay

The Norwegian utility Stakraft has acquired the electric vehicle charging company E-Wald GmbH. The acquisition is to strengthens Statkraft’s position in the German and European charging market and follows similar deals made earlier this year.

The Bavarian company E-Wald offers charging and leasing services in Germany. The network includes around 300 charging stations and leasing services for about 100 fleet cars to corporations and municipalities in the country with approx. 7,000 customers in total, according to the press release announcing the sale.

Statkraft has acquired the entire shareholding and considers E-Wald well positioned in the fast-charging market and having an “ambitious growth strategy,” says Bjørn Holsen, Senior Vice President for New Business in Statkraft.

The energy company intends to “grow a leading EV charging business in key growth markets in Europe” and to do so “in partnership with leading start-ups positioned for growth,” states the accompanying release.

In Norway, this strategy has so seen the acquisition of Grønn Kontakt. Also, in Germany, E-Wald is not the first business that has been taken over. Statkraft has also bought eeMobility, a firm based in Munich that provides charging solutions for company car fleets.

Pony.ai And Toyota Partner To Build Self-Driving Cars And Services

By
Chandan Gupta
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0

Guangzhou, China-based self-driving car startup Pony.ai today announced it’ll team up with Toyota, the Japanese auto giant with a roughly 9% share of the global car market, to explore “safe” mobility services involving driverless technology across a range of segments and industries. Specifically, the two companies say they’ll collaborate on a pilot program to “accelerate the development and deployment” of autonomous vehicles.

“Autonomous driving technology is the key to creating a better transportation system and delivering value to the lives of many,” wrote the companies in a press release. “Through such collaborations, Toyota and Pony.ai are accelerating the arrival of a safer, more efficient, and more enjoyable mobility future for all.”

The announcement comes after the reveal of Pony.ai’s PonyPilot, a test project for “product-ready” self-driving cars within a geofenced area in Guangzhou. It’s currently available to employees and “select affiliates” by invitation only, and it covers roughly 50 square kilometers​ of central Nansha, including commercial plazas, office buildings, landmark hotels, libraries, and residential complexes.

As for Toyota, it’s one of several ongoing driverless car forays. In March 2018, the company announced that the Toyota Research Institute, its R&D division, would build a closed-course test facility in Ottawa Lake, Michigan to replicate “edge case” driving scenarios too dangerous to conduct on public roads. More recently, Toyota invested $500 million in Uber to jointly develop self-driving cars, deepening its existing partnership with the ride-sharing company. And it worked with CALTY Design Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan to streamline the design of its in-house autonomous test vehicle.

Additionally, Toyota last year took the wraps off of a concept it’s calling e-Pallete, or fully-automated battery-powered electric cars designed for a range of “mobility-as-a-service” businesses. The carmaker intends to work with companies including Softbank, Amazon, Didi Chuxing, Mazda, and Pizza Hut to deploy shuttles that can be used to deliver food, offer onboard medical examinations, double as hotel rooms, and more.

Former Baidu chief architect James Peng cofounded Pony.ai in 2016 with Tiancheng Lou, who worked at Google X’s autonomous car project before it was spun off into Waymo. The pair aims to build level 4 autonomous cars — cars that can operate without human oversight under select conditions, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers — for “predictable” environments, such as industrial parks, college campuses, and small towns, with a tentative deployment window of 2-3 years from now.

Pony’s full-stack hardware platform, PonyAlpha, leverages lidars, radars, and cameras to keep tabs on obstacles within up to 200 meters of its self-driving cars. It serves as the foundation for the company’s fully autonomous trucks and freight delivery solution, which commenced testing on public roads in April, and it’s deployed in test cars within the city limits of Fremont, California and Beijing.

Pony.ai is one of the few firms to have secured an autonomous vehicle testing license in Beijing. Stateside, in California, it’s obtained a robo-taxi operations permit.

Earlier this year, Pony.ai — which has tripled its headcount since January 2018 — attracted $50 million in pre-B financing from video game publisher Beijing Kunlun Wanwei, making it one of the most valuable autonomous driving startups in China. It previously raised $102 million from lead investors ClearVue Partners and Eight Roads (Fidelity International Limited’s investment arm), bringing its total raised to roughly $300 million and bringing its valuation to over $1 billion.

Pony.ai has competition in Daimler, which last summer obtained a permit from the Chinese government allowing it to test self-driving cars powered by Baidu’s Apollo platform on public roads in Beijing. Separately, startup Optimus Ride built out a small autonomous shuttle fleet in Brooklyn. Waymo, which has racked up more than 10 million real-world miles in over 25 cities across the U.S. and roughly 7 billion simulated miles, in November 2018 became the first company to obtain a driverless car testing permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Other rivals include GM’s Cruise Automation and Tesla, in addition to Zoox, Aptiv, May Mobility, Pronto.ai, Aurora, and Nuro.

Fortunately, for Pony.ai, there’s plenty of cash to go around in China’s goldmine of a driverless car market. According to a McKinsey report, self-driving vehicles and mobility services in the region are expected to be worth more than $500 billion by 2030, when the number of autonomous cars on public roads is expected to reach 8 million.

Hero Motocorp Gears Up For Future Mobility Trends With Revamp Of Leadership Team

By
Chandan Gupta
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0

VIKRAM KASBEKAR TO BE THE NEW CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

RAJAT BHARGAVA TO HEAD NEWLY CREATED ‘EMERGING MOBILITY’ BUSINESS UNIT

In keeping with its commitment to stay ahead of the emerging mobility trends, Hero MotoCorp – the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer – today revamped its Leadership Team.

As part of this process, Hero MotoCorp has assigned the role of the Chief Technology Officer to Vikram Kasbekar, while Rajat Bhargava has been given the responsibility to head the newly created ‘Emerging Mobility’ Business Unit. Both Vikram and Rajat will continue to report to Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman, Hero MotoCorp.

Rajat currently heads Corporate Strategy & Performance Transformation and is also Head of Global Business.

Vikram, currently the Executive Director – Operations (Plants) at Hero MotoCorp, will be in-charge of the Company’s world-class Research and Development facilities – the Centre of Innovation and Technology – at the northern Indian city of Jaipur and the Hero Tech Centre Germany GmbH. He will replace Markus Braunsperger, who will be relocating to Europe after the completion of his five-year tenure.

Markus, who led CIT from its days of inception, has been credited with giving shape to the research and development set-up at Hero MotoCorp, forming a global team of engineers and automotive experts drawn from different parts of the world. Under the leadership of Markus, Hero successfully launched close to 40 new models and variants including a series of premium two-wheelers, including the XPulse range motorcycles, the Destini 125 and Maestro Edge 125 scooters.

He also led the Company to a smooth transition from BS-III to BS-IV earlier and to BS-VI now, as Hero MotoCorp became the first manufacturer in India to receive the BS-VI certification for a two-wheeler from the International Centre for Automotive Technology. He also played a key role in setting up Hero Tech Centre Germany and giving Hero MotoSports a major boost.

Vikram, who has been with Hero MotoCorp for over a decade and half, brings years of varied technology and engineering experience in manufacturing and large-scale plant operations, Supply Chain and New Model Development.

A process has already been initiated to identify a suitable candidate to be in line to take over as CTO in due course.

Hero MotoCorp has created the ‘Emerging Mobility’ Business Unit to give an impetus to new mobility trends such as Electric Vehicles.

Tech Mahindra Partners With Mahindra Logistics To Introduce Electric Vehicles For Employee Transportation

By
Chandan Gupta
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0

Tech Mahindra Limited, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting and business reengineering services and solutions, has partnered with Mahindra Logistics, one of India’s largest 3PL solution providers, for introducing and operating Electric Vehicles for employee transportation. Mahindra Logistics will be deploying Mahindra E-Verito vehicles at Tech Mahindra’s Hyderabad campus under its employee transportation fleet from 24 July 2019.

CP Gurnani, MD and CEO, Tech Mahindra, said, “Sustainable mobility is the need of the hour. With environment and people at the core of our business, we at Tech Mahindra are committed to drive this shift to electric mobility. We are happy to partner with Mahindra Logistics to accomplish the collective vision of improved electric mobility that will help us shape a sustainable future. We look forward to adding more electric vehicles at our offices globally.”

As part of its Go-Green initiative, MLL’s People Transport Solution business aims to take the tally of electric vehicles in its employee transportation fleet to 300, over the fiscal year 2020.

Pirojshaw Sarkari, CEO – Mahindra Logistics, said, “Electric Vehicles, for us, exemplifies the Mahindra Group’s vision of the Future of Mobility – a sustainable automotive ecosystem that brings mobility solutions to customers across the world. One of MLL’s Purpose principles is ‘Sustaining the Environment’ and we deeply believe in the need to adopt environment friendly solutions and also align our business practices accordingly. We are delighted to partner with Tech Mahindra to take this step towards a greener future.”

Tech Mahindra has been at the forefront in using innovative technologies to solve complex issues of the real-world. As a responsible business entity, the organization concentrates on integrating sustainability into all aspects of the business and develops strategies for Environmental, Social and Governance dimensions.

Mahindra’s Auto Sector Sells 40,142 Vehicles During July 2019

By
Chandan Gupta
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0

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a part of the USD 20.7 billion Mahindra Group, today announced its auto sales performance for July 2019.

In the Passenger Vehicles segment (which includes UVs, Cars and Vans), Mahindra sold 16,831 vehicles in July 2019, compared to 19,781 vehicles in July 2018.

In the Commercial Vehicles segment, the company sold 15,969 vehicles in July 2019, as against 19,284 vehicles in July 2018.

In the Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles segment, Mahindra sold 417 vehicles for the month. Exports for July 2019 stood at 2,668 vehicles.

The company’s Auto Sector overall sales (Domestic + Exports) stood at 40,142 vehicles in July 2019, compared to 47,199 vehicles during July 2018.

Commenting on the performance, Veejay Ram Nakra, Chief of Sales and Marketing, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd. said, “The headwinds faced by the automotive industry continue as a result of subdued consumer sentiment, triggered by various factors. The industry needs stimuli to help revive consumer demand and conversions. We hope that the overall buying sentiment will improve in the run-up to the festive season and with the monsoon turning out to be better than initially anticipated.”

Sales Summary July 2019      
CategoryJulyJulyJulyYTD JulyYTD JulyYTD July
 F20F19% ChangeF20F19% Change
Passenger Vehicles1683119781-15%7623180560-5%
Utility Vehicles1600317879-10%7209873953-3%
Cars* + Vans8281902-56%41336607-37%
Commercial Vehicles1596919284-17%6756376224-11%
LCV < 3.5T1487417785-16%6234269168-10
LCV > 3.5T6786337%29883026-1%
MHCV417866-52%22334030-45%
3W46745540-16%1781018545-4%
Total Domestic Sales3747444605-16%161604175329-8%
Total Exports266825943%1022711970-15%
Total Sales (Domestic + Export)4014247199-15%171831187299-8%

*Above Domestic Sales Includes sales made in subsidiary company Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd

Tata Power And Tata Motors Join Hands To Set In Motion Electric Mobility Infrastructure In India

By
Chandan Gupta
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0
  • Setting up of EV charging stations across key metros
  • Installations at strategic locations frequented by potential EV owners
  • Attractive charging tariff for Tata Motors EV customersAs
  • An introductory offer, Tata Motors EV Customers can avail free charging for the next 3 months

Tata Power and Tata Motors announce their partnership to install 300 fast charging stations by the end of the FY20, across key five cities namely Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Today, both companies inaugurated their first 7 charging stations in Pune, to enable the e-mobility drive in the city. Over the next two months, 45 more chargers will be installed across the other four cities. These chargers will be installed at Tata Motors dealerships, certain Tata Group retail outlets and other public locations.

The chargers will be operated by Tata Power and will adhere to Bharat Standard (15 kW) for the initial 50 chargers. Going forward, we will also have charging stations that will adhere to 30-50 kW DC CCS2 Standard. These chargers can be accessed by any electric vehicle user, having cars compatible to the above charging standards. Tata Power and Tata Motors have jointly developed an attractive charging tariff for Tata Motors EV customers.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Praveer Sinha, MD & CEO Tata Power, said, “We are committed to making India EV ready in line with the Government’s ambition of providing green technology solutions and Tata Group’s vision of reducing India’s carbon footprint. Our aim is to make EV Charging as fast and easy as possible for all Indians and we are very pleased to partner with Tata Motors, with whom we jointly identified high priority locations which could be preferred by the potential EV owners.”

Commenting on the collaboration, Mr. Guenter Butschek, CEO & MD Tata Motors Ltd., said, “We are happy to partner with Tata Power for taking the first step in developing ubiquitous EV charging infrastructure in India. This partnership is an important milestone in our journey to offer complete ecosystem solutions and offer peace of mind to our customers. We remain committed to the sustainable mobility mission and will continue to work towards bringing aspirational e-mobility solutions for the customers, leading the drive towards faster adoption of electric vehicles in the country.”

Tata Power’s current EV infrastructure presence in Mumbai is 42 charging points and its mobility infrastructure footprint is in multiple cities including Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi with a total of 85 charging points set up across various usage scenarios. The company has signed landmark MoUs for setting up commercial scale EV charging stations at HPCL, IOCL, and IGL retail outlets. The company also partnered with Tata Motors earlier to support Maharashtra Government’s vision of promoting e-mobility in the State by setting up public EV charging stations.

Nissan LEAF Goes On Sale In Latin America’s Biggest Markets

By
Chandan Gupta
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0

Nissan, the pioneer in electric mobility, today began selling the zero-emission Nissan LEAF in Latin America’s four biggest markets: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia.

The award-winning LEAF brings Latin American customers the excitement and benefits of the best- selling electric car of all time: powerful performance, great energy efficiency with zero tailpipe emissions, and advanced Nissan Intelligent Mobility technologies such as the e-Pedal feature for one-pedal driving.

The expansion into Latin America builds on Nissan’s position as the global pioneer in electric mobility, with more than 400,000 LEAF vehicles sold worldwide since the model first went on sale in 2010.

“Latin America’s accelerating development and growth require safe, intelligent and sustainable mobility solutions,” said Guy Rodriguez, chairman of Nissan Latin America. “The Nissan LEAF will enable us to contribute to a zero-emission future that will improve the lives of our customers.”

A pre-sale stage for the LEAF began in the four Latin American markets at the end of 2018.

World’s Top H2 Station Launched In Shanghai

By
Chandan Gupta
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0
World’s top H2 station launched in Shanghai

SAIC Motor and Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park jointly launched a hydrogen fuel cell car refueling station on June 5, which is currently the largest and highest-level of its kind in the world.

As the only Chinese auto maker to develop three types of new energy vehicles –electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), SAIC Motor has mastered several world-class FCV core technologies. The company has participated in the formulation of 15 national standards on FCV and is the first Chinese auto maker to have realized the commercial application of hydrogen fuel cell in passenger cars and commercial cars.

World’s top H2 station launched in Shanghai

SAIC Motor and its subordinate companies reached an agreement with Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park in January 2018 to jointly promote hydrogen FCV commercial operations, and build related infrastructure in the park. The launch of the refueling station marks an important achievement for both parties and will accelerate the commercialization of hydrogen FCVs and develop Shanghai into a globally leading center of FCV innovation and production.

The hydrogen refueling station can support the pilot operation of 20 SAIC hydrogen FCVs in the park and provide refueling services for commercial purposes. The 8,000-square -meter station has the capacity to supply 2 tons of hydrogen every day, and can refuel vehicles with compressed hydrogen at a pressure of 35MPa and 70MPa. In addition to hydrogen refueling, the station also supports the filling of torpedo-like hydrogen tanks, as well as FCV maintenance and battery charging. Notably, the station uses the park’s hydrogen by-product as its hydrogen source, realizing resource recycling and contributing to the recycling economy of Shanghai.

Leading China’s FCV technology

A hydrogen FCV substitutes petroleum with hydrogen as its fuel, and is powered by a fuel cell instead of an engine. Hydrogen reacts with oxygen in the fuel cell to produce electricity and pure water. Compared with traditional engines, hydrogen fuel cells are more efficient in energy utilization, more environmentally friendly and more secure.

World’s top H2 station launched in Shanghai

As the forerunner of hydrogen fuel cell technologies, SAIC Motor has made remarkable breakthroughs thanks to its persistent efforts since 2001. It has owned 350 related patents, and participated in formulating 15 national standards on FCVs. In June 2018, SAIC Motor set up Shanghai Hydrogen Propulsion Technology to provide the auto industry with fuel cell products and services. The SAIC Maxus G20FC hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is the world’s first fuel cell multi-purpose vehicle. It uses a third generation fuel cell system, the latest technology developed by SHPT, and pioneers the use of a 70MPa hydrogen tank in China. With its cell stack power reaching 115kW and power density reaching 3.1kW/L, the car can start at temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees while maintaining world-class overall performance.

Pioneering FCV commercial operation

Several of SAIC Motor’s car models made an appearance at the station’s launch ceremony, including the Maxus G20FC hydrogen fuel cell MPV, Maxus FCV80 fuel cell wide-body light passenger vehicle, Roewe 950 fuel cell sedan, and Sunwin fuel cell bus, which represent some of the company’s achievements in FCVs.

World’s top H2 station launched in Shanghai

As the first and only FCV to be put into commercial use in China, the Maxus FCV80 applies a double engine system driven mainly by a fuel cell while complemented by the power battery, offering a maximum range of 500 kilometers. It now serves clients in Shanghai, Foshan and Fushun, has a fleet size of 400 vehicles, and a total running distance of more than 1.5 million kilometers. In Fushun in particular, the vehicle survived cold weather and has run a distance of over 30,000 kilometers.

The Roewe 950 fuel cell sedan is the only fuel cell passenger car in China to be approved for sale by the authorities and has already seen several be sold and registered. Equipped with a double engine system integrating a power battery and a fuel cell, it supports multiple power modes such as electric-only, hybrid, and braking energy recovery. It also allows slow recharging through an external power source. The car has a maximum range of 430 kilometers, and can start at a temperature as low as minus 20 degrees. It has run a total distance of more than 500,000 kilometers for commercial purposes.

Sunwin fuel cell bus is a designated vehicle for the United Nations Development Program’s project of promoting commercialization of Chinese FCVs.  It started commercial operation on the NO 114 bus route in Jiading, Shanghai at the end of last year, with a total mileage of 120,000 kilometers.

SAIC Motor will continue to push forward the independent R&D of hydrogen fuel cell technologies and accelerate the exploration of new energy applications with partners, so as to promote high-quality development through innovation and contribute to the city’s mission of building a global scientific and technological innovation hub.

5 Ways EVs Can Transform Mobile Retail

By
Chandan Gupta
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0

Whether it’s pepperoni pizza or a grand piano, almost anything can be delivered to your door these days. Yet home delivery isn’t the only example of mobile retail’s growing popularity. All around the globe, mobile clothing shops, food trucks and farmers markets are popping up.

The idea isn’t new – you may fondly recall running after the ice cream truck as a child. But today, the business model is being transformed by entrepreneurs who are taking a more sustainable approach to serving both rural and urban communities. Here are five examples of how electric vehicles can change mobile retail:

1. Sky to Scoop: Tasty treats with zero emissions

Mackie’s of Scotland, a family-owned ice cream maker, powers its farm using renewable energy including wind and solar power. But until recently, getting frozen treats to customers required using fossil fuels. Most ice cream trucks have diesel engines that power both the vehicle itself and the refrigeration equipment. When the truck pulls up in your neighborhood, the diesel engine idles the whole time to run the equipment. That means producing tailpipe emissions along with the soft-serve.

Mackie’s saw an opportunity. The company partnered with Nissan, which has been in the electric van business since 2011, to create an all-electric ice cream truck in the UK. The project took a “Sky to Scoop” approach to make every stage of the ice cream journey carbon-neutral.

The innovative new ice cream truck consists of a prototype van based on the 100% electric Nissan e-NV200. It combines a zero-emission drivetrain, second-life battery storage and renewable solar energy to sell tasty treats with no emissions.

2. A mobile grocery store

The ability to reach rural or isolated areas with power on hand inspired Nissan to test an electric vehicle-based mobile grocery store. Battery-powered freezers, refrigerators and a heating cabinet were used to serve customers in secluded Oku-Aizu in northeast Japan. Local grocers who participated in the program said customers responded positively – and, like in the UK, they particularly enjoyed the ice cream.

3. A dressing room on wheels

Tourists flock to the Japanese district of Aizu for its historic sites, scenic views and hand-crafted pottery. Residents, however, don’t have a lot of options when it comes to modern fashion. Nissan teamed up with the Rakuten Institute of Technology and the University of Aizu to create a mobile clothing store. The store came complete with an air-conditioned dressing room for trying on clothes, powered by a large-capacity EV battery. Shoppers received fashion advice from stylists remotely via a display.

4. A pop-up restaurant with a view

Zero-emission vehicles can open up new places to do business that might otherwise be off-limits – like cherished natural areas. In collaboration with local partners, Nissan provided an EV to its local partners for a pop-up restaurant in Chubu-Sangaku National Park, known for its mountains and pristine waters. Using an electric van, the pop-up shuttled diners to the remote dining location and then used the electric motor to power the kitchen and lighting for the meal. Afterward, diners left nothing behind to spoil the area, including tailpipe emissions.

5. The Ultimate Smart Barbecue

Conquering the great outdoors in cutting-edge recreational vehicles is rising in popularity, with millennials fueling the boom. A few years ago, Nissan launched a crowdfunded project in Japan to show hobbyists that they can take modern conveniences into the wild without spoiling it. We converted an electric van into the “Ultimate Smart Barbecue” to cook without carbon emissions. The van also kept users comfortable with electric mosquito repellant and powered a karaoke machine for entertainment. Developed in cooperation with the Japan Barbecue Association, the concept is envisioned as an on-demand mobile service for private customers.

At Nissan, we’re constantly exploring the ways electric vehicles can enrich our lives beyond transporting people from point A to point B. Our EVs already on the road have more than 10 gigawatt-hours of combined energy storage potential. By tapping into this reservoir in innovative ways, we’re opening up new possibilities for moving people to a better world.

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